The date for the return of suspended Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has been confirmed, coming just as the six-month emergency rule imposed on the state draws to a close this week.
President Bola Tinubu declared the emergency rule on March 16, following political unrest between Fubara and his predecessor Nyesom Wike.
The proclamation suspended Fubara, his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu, and the State House of Assembly, while former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd.), was appointed as state administrator.
With Ibas now preparing to exit office, close aides of the governor disclosed that Fubara is expected back in the state before the weekend.
“As I speak with you the governor is not back. All those pictures you see on social media are old. But he may come in today (Saturday) or tomorrow (Sunday),” an aide disclosed.
Ahead of the transition, the state government has announced plans for an inter-denominational thanksgiving service to usher in the return of democratic governance. The event will take place at the Ecumenical Centre, Port Harcourt, according to a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Ibibia Worika.
Meanwhile, the anticipated comeback has stirred mixed reactions. Some elders insist the governor has been politically weakened, while others argue that power has shifted decisively to his predecessor and political godfather, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
High Chief Sunny Chukumele, convener of the Coalition of Rivers State Leaders of Thought, lamented that the last six months had placed the state in what he described as a state of “capture.”
He said, “The state is captured. That is my position. We will only get back to where we were before the liberation; and now it is back to Egypt. Rivers State has been successfully captured. The future of the state would be determined by the people of the state going forward.”
Echoing similar sentiments, elder statesman Asukewe Iko-Awaji argued that both political unity and the state’s economy had been eroded by Fubara’s absence.
“The man has been away from office for six months. Some of the companies working in the state have pulled out and it will take another six months to put himself together to bring back these companies,” he noted.
But former senator and Wike ally, Olaka Wogu, insisted that the prolonged standoff had been about control of political structures rather than money.
“The fact is that the man fought for his structure and kept it. The governor is part of the structure,” he said.